1. GENERAL

Lawyers are often said to be boring. Yet the exact opposite is true: it is precisely their constant engagement with language – the legislator’s most important means of expression – that leads many lawyers to love wordplay and to be witty themselves.

Many lawyers also love to celebrate. This inclination, combined with the nature of legal work, gives rise to the most unusual celebrations: the commemoration of legal anniversaries: 150 years of the Vienna Law Society (2017), 100 years of the Federal Constitution (2020), 175 years of MANZ-Verlag (2024), 50 years of the Faculty of Law at JKU Linz (2025), 70 years of the State Treaty of Vienna (2025) ….

Given this widespread sense of legal celebration, it seems strange that an important anniversary has gone almost unnoticed this year: 100 years of uniform administrative procedure laws in Austria! So let’s put these laws in the spotlight in this year’s final ‘Knowledge Bite’:

a. EGVG: The „Federal Act of 21 July 1925, Federal Law Gazette No. 273, introducing the Federal Acts on general administrative procedure, on the general provisions of administrative criminal law and administrative criminal procedure, and on enforcement proceedings in the administration (Introductory Act to the Administrative Procedure Acts — EGVG.)“ is one of our favourite laws: Short (just five articles!) and concisely worded, with its unwieldy title (in contrast to the linguistically embellished omnibus amendments of our day), it is not a case of false advertising, but contains exactly what it says on the tin: provisions (such as substantive administrative penal provisions) which are set out in none the other three procedural laws or (such as the scope of application, legal definitions) in all three which should have been incorporated into these laws – and which have therefore, for systematic reasons, been brought together in a separate Act. Do yourself a favour and read the EGVG! You’ll be amazed at what you’ll find in it. Or did you (until now) know which law is used to punish forgery, fare evasion, racism, desecration of the flag or Holocaust denial?

b. AVG: The „Federal Act of 21 July 1925, Federal Law Gazette No. 274, on General Administrative Procedure (General Administrative Procedure Act — AVG)“ is the „Code of Civil Procedure“ for administrative proceedings. Admittedly, what the Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO) requires 637 sections to achieve, the AVG accomplishes with just 82. In addition to the procedural principles (ex officio proceedings, substantive truth, duty to provide information, arbitrary order, free assessment of evidence, and unrestricted admissibility of evidence), the Act regulates the initiation, investigation, settlement and appeal procedures.

c. VStG: The „Federal Act of 21 July 1925, Federal Law Gazette No. 275, on the general provisions of administrative criminal law and administrative criminal procedure (Administrative Criminal Law Act — VStG)“ is the „Code of Criminal Procedure“ for administrative proceedings (70 sections). Under the criminal proceedings governed by this Act, both the most minor (e.g. an anonymous notice for illegal parking) and the most serious (e.g. a penalty notice for toxic emissions from a commercial facility) administrative offences are prosecuted.

d. VVG: The „Federal Act of 21 July 1925, Federal Law Gazette No. 276, on Administrative Enforcement Proceedings (Administrative Enforcement Act — VVG)“ is the „enforcement code“ for administrative proceedings (15 sections). It governs how administrative decisions and administrative court rulings are to be enforced.

In addition to this „core body of law“, Austrian administrative procedure law now also includes further provisions – whether supplementary or designed to ensure legal protection – such as the Service of Documents Act (ZustellG), the E-Government Act (E-Government-G), the Administrative Court Fees Act (VwGVG), the Administrative Court Act (VwGG) and the Constitutional Court Act (VfGG).

2. ON THE SPECIFIC MEANING

The importance of the Austrian Administrative Procedure Acts cannot be overestimated. There are two reasons for this:

a. Until 1925, administrative procedures were governed by the relevant substantive laws. Depending on whether the authorisation concerned, for example, water law, trade law or road traffic law, the official decisions were designated differently (e.g. notice, authorisation or permit), the time limits for appeal varied, and different authorities were required to take action. It was not until the Administrative Procedure Acts of 1925 were enacted that a uniform administrative procedure, administrative penalty procedure and administrative enforcement procedure were successfully established for (almost) all Austrian administrative authorities.

What makes this uniform set of rules so special is not merely that it has cleared up a tangle of special procedural rights that had built up over the centuries. What was particularly groundbreaking was the fact that, in 1925, it was even dared to bind administrative authorities to a procedural law. What had been recognised for ordinary courts since the ZPO of 1895 at the latest was fiercely contested in the case of administrative authorities: How could an administrative authority, which was required to carry out „police“ duties (i.e. the prevention of imminent dangers), be bound by a procedural law? Would this not itself jeopardise the prevention of danger?

In 1925, the Austrian legislature settled this constitutional debate through positive law – thereby also setting a milestone in terms of the rule of law. Other countries did not introduce a uniform administrative procedure until decades later (e.g. Switzerland in 1968, Germany in 1977) – and often followed the Austrian model in doing so.

b. A second distinctive feature is that the Administrative Procedure Acts of 1925 are a legislative masterpiece. Since administrative proceedings were conceived as a process intended to take place directly between the administration and the parties subject to the law, without the „intervention“ of lawyers, it was necessary to create a set of procedural rules formulated as simply as possible and thus understandable even to the legal layperson. Inspired by this idea, the two great administrative lawyers Egbert Mannlicher and Emerich Coreth precise legal texts have been drafted which are unrivalled in their conceptual clarity and astonishing simplicity. If, for example, one finds a provision in the AVG today that is not comprehensible on first reading, then it can be assumed with a near certainty that this provision was only „innovated’ into the AVG at a later date…. The Administrative Procedure Acts of 1925 are thus also a reflection of an era in which lawyers were aware of the importance of language.

3. TO PUT IT INTO A NUTSHELL

The Administrative Procedure Acts of 1925 represent a milestone in Austrian legal history in terms of the rule of law and legislative drafting. In just 172 sections, they provide a uniform framework for administrative procedure, administrative criminal procedure and administrative enforcement proceedings – one the legal framework governing the work of over 730,000 public-sector employees. That’s certainly something to be a bit proud of. Happy Birthday, AVG!

Are you looking for specialists in administrative procedures? Whatever the situation 😊, you’ll come out on top with us!